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The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 6 & Week 7, 2012

Reviewed by
Ayo 'Ayohla' Adepoju (WPGM)

It's been a very eventful fourteen days in music and that is putting it very mildly. We begin this article by paying our respects to the late great Whitney Houston who passed away on February 11, 2012. May her soul rest in perfect peace and our condolences go out to the entire Houston family.

Now unto today's proceedings, we have been sifting through all the new and emerging music that has come away over the last two weeks - from February 6 to February 19 - and as we usually do, we've selected only the best of the best to share with you. Here are our Best New & Emerging Music from weeks SIX (06/02/12 - 12/02/12) and weeks SEVEN (13/02/12 - 19/02/12) of 2012.

EARL SWEATSHIRT - "HOME"

We begin with the return of one of the most talked about young US rappers from the last year and a half or so. While his Odd Future cohorts were busy rising to fame and stardom last year, this kid was reportedly locked away in some reform school in Samoa for 19 months. Well now Thebe Kgosisile fondly known as EARL SWEATSHIRT is BACK and on his first track since being back or shall we say, his "re-introductory" track titled "Home", Earl shows exactly why he was hugely missed and always referred to as his Odd Future crew grew to prominence. Over echoing beats and cymbals, Earl showcases his ridiculously sick flow, dark aggressive tone and glorious lyrical dexterity in little over one minute - finishing it off with "And I'm Back... Bye". Welcome back EARL!

TARA/KING - "DON'T EVEN"

From some California narcissistic rap music, we delve right into some California R&B/Pop music courtesy of new and emerging singer, songwriter and fashion designer TARA/KING brought to us by Protostar Entertainment - the good folks that introduced us to Toronto singer/songwriter Rochelle Jordan. Tara describes her music as a blend of Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop and R&B to create a style that is naturally her own. We could say that we've heard that rhetoric a million times and we have but there is just something uniquely intriguing about Tara/King that makes you believe her and pay attention. Her debut EP Kissed By A Bullet... Shot By Love is scheduled for release later this month and the first offerings from that is the amazingly dope and slow burning "Don't Even"...

STACY BARTHE + JOHN LEGEND - "NO STRINGS ATTACHED"

For some strange reason or the other, Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter STACY BARTHE has yet to make an appearance on our Best New & Emerging Music series. This is strange because we love Stacy Barthe and we think she is an amazing artist but not only that, she has been releasing some pretty stellar music over the course of 2012 so far with the release of her latest project In The InBetween. Off of that project is this Reggae-infused opus and slightly cynical love song which features R&B stalwarth John Legend titled "No Strings Attached". Produced by Jamaican-born producer Supa Dups who brings the Island-heavy tone and vibe to the song sublimely with lush guitar strings and drum arrangements, "No Strings Attached" sees Barthe and Legend gelling rather perfectly to convey this tale of promiscuity or a case of the "Mr. Right Now".

JAGGA + DEVLIN - "KEEP ON THE LIGHT" (PRODUCED BY TMS)

West London production trio TMS unveiled this massive genre bending Dubstep-infused tune titled "Keep On The Light" a little under two weeks ago and while it showed us just how versatile and stellar TMS is as a production outfit, rather more importantly for us, it introduced us emerging East London artist, JAGGA. Recently signed to Sony Records after touring with Katy B and working with Odd Future's Matt Martian, the Rock and Reggae-influenced singer, songwriter and producer can do NO wrong on "Keep On The Light" as he commands your attention from start to finish with his compelling vocals which have a certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi" and an unmistakable Reggae influence to it that just adds a different element to the song.

JESSIE WARE - "RUNNING"

Now for some British Soul but not quite in the somewhat "boring" (bar a select few) manner you might be used to already in 2012. Here is introducing you to South London singer and songwriter JESSIE WARE with her sophomore single titled "Running" which is superbly produced by UK House producer Julio Bashmore. Having gained a buzz surrounding her incredibly enchanting and commanding vocals on collaborations with SBTRKT and Joker in 2011, Jessie Ware released her debut single - the experimental and slightly moody "Strangest Feeling" - to even more critical acclaim and rave reviews. "Running" picks up sublimely where "Strangest Feeling" left off with Ware's vocals captivating our ears and hearts over some experimental progressive musical milieu provided by Bashmore that is very reminiscent of the classic 80's sounds of Sade.

EFYA - "BEST IN ME"

I knew there was one very special record I was forgetting to include in this installment of our Best New & Emerging Music series, that's the only reason my subconscious was stalling on hitting the publish button for over thirty minutes. From West Africa and making a well deserved and long overdue appearance on We Plug GOOD Music is none other than Ghanaian soulstress EFYA with her latest single titled "Best In Me". Released on Valentine's Day and rumored to be on her forthcoming album, this tune right here does it for me and I am especially pleased that the Singer/Songwriter embraces and sings in her native language and fuses it in perfectly with her English.

So there you have it! Another couple of weeks gone and some pretty amazing music to go with it! Above are our favorite six songs from the last fourteen days - from London to Accra to California and everywhere in between! Hope you've enjoyed our picks and if you feel like we've missed something, do let us know in the comments section!